It was a framed as a singular event, and theater owners, desperate to fill screens with appealing content, happily agreed to it. “Given that atypical circumstances call for atypical economic relationships between studios and theaters, and atypical windows and releasing strategies, AMC is fully onboard for Warner Brothers’ announcement today,” Adam Aron, chief executive of AMC Entertainment, said at the time.
He was much less welcoming to an entire year of this practice, which provides no additional incentives to theaters.
“Clearly, WarnerMedia intends to sacrifice a considerable portion of the profitability of its movie studio division — and that of its production partners and filmmakers — to subsidize its HBO Max start-up,” Mr. Aron said in an email. “As for AMC, we will do all in our power to ensure that Warner does not do so at our expense. We have already commenced an immediate and urgent dialogue with the leadership of Warner on this subject.”
Another major theater chain, Cinemark, indicated that it had been caught by surprise. “In light of the current operating environment, we are making near-term booking decisions on a film-by-film basis,” a Cinemark spokesperson said. “At this time, Warner Bros. has not provided any details for the hybrid distribution model of their 2021 films.”
The Warner Bros. plan stands in stark contrast to one pursued by Universal Pictures, which has agreed to continue providing theaters with an exclusive play period of at least three weeks. Universal has signed deals with AMC, Cinemark and Canada’s top exhibitor, Cineplex, whereby films will bow exclusively in theaters for at least 17 days before moving to premium video-on-demand. The theater chains will each receive a cut of revenue from PVOD sales.
In her statement, Ms. Sarnoff said that Warner Bros. was “extremely grateful to our filmmaking partners for working with us on this innovative response to these circumstances.” That was news to many of the company’s partners, including Legendary Pictures, the production company behind “Godzilla vs. Kong.” Legendary and other producers were not consulted and only notified at the last minute (if at all), resulting in a day of furious phone calls behind the scenes.
Mr. Kilar said that filmmakers should be encouraged by this new way of releasing films.
“I have a lot of confidence in the theatrical model, and I have a lot of confidence in the subscription model,” Mr. Kilar said. “In many ways, you could see a future where budgets and ambitions continue to grow because that which you make more convenient tends to be used more often.”